Fire of Battle, Reveal my heart: Psycho Burgundy!

(This has been both written by a friend of mines back then and we worked on it a while back so I decided to post it here now cause, yeah.)

I've been playing Volcanics ever since they came out, and I would definitely say that they are a true underdog decktype. Nobody really thinks of it highly, but if they don't watch themselves they will be quickly beat down by this eclectic mix of Burn and Beatdown.

So what makes Volcanics so great? I'll give you three reasons.

1. Control - Nothing is better than having complete control over your opponent. Being able to restrict what your opponent does and destroy 1 or more monsters every turn is AMAZING, especially when recycling the cards with Royal Firestorm Guards.

At any time you can have the field in lock-down mode. Blaze Accelerator in combination with Wild Fire makes for easy field removal that leaves you with a tributable Fire token.

While mentioning Control, it's also important to note that the Volcanic deck is not meant to be played quickly. It takes a little bit of time to get all your key pieces to your hand, but once you do, it's a well-oiled machine that is almost unstoppable.

Keeping this in mind, there are many times when I can go 2-4 turns in a row without setting anything or perhaps only one card. Things like Swords of Revealing Light, Scapegoat, 3x Threating Roar, and Necro Guardna make it easy to bait out your opponent and strike only when you are ready. The Volcanic deck is like a mighty hunter, where they only strike when they know they can annihilate their prey.

(Shiki says: Of course. I dare someone to try to prove me wrong.)

2. Powerful Monster effects - The Volcanic army has many monsters that have effects almost as powerful as spells, such as Royal Firestorm Guards that are an easier Pot of Avarice in monster form, Thestalos to discard from your opponent's hand, and Scattershot that nukes your opponent's field clean while inflicting 1000 damage to them.

(Shiki: Mmm. Well, powerful as spells is a bit overdoing it but they do have extremely good effects.)

3. Cycling - Probably one of my favorite aspects of this deck. Every card can search for or recycle another card(s). Volcanic Rocket searches out your Blaze Accelerator; RFG recycles used Shells/Scattershots/etc into the deck to draw into them possibly yet again; Shell can search out other copies of itself from the deck. It's just awesome how much Synergy this deck has.

(Shiki: This is how I reload all my bullets so I can kill. Hahahaha!)

Now let's get down to the Nitty-Gritty. Let's break down the deck and see why it works as well as it does.

Monsters

The Weapons- These are the main force of the deck. They search for the ammo, have pretty high attack (1700-1900), and have great Toolbox effects to boot.

Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, you can add one "Blaze Accelerator" card from your deck or graveyard to your hand.

This guy is the master of versatility. He can search the grave OR the deck for Blaze Accelerator OR Tri-Blaze (since it says search for a "Blaze-Accelerator" card and Tri-Blaze has that in its name), meaning Blaze will never go to waste. This guy must be run in threes x3. Not to mention he can run over every non-tribute monster commonly played in the current metagame.

Effect: Once per turn, you can inflict 500 damage to your opponent. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.

Seems simple enough. It's the 2nd highest attacker in the Volcanic Army excluding the bosses, and can do burn damage instead of attacking. Now not a lot of people run this guy, but really he's pretty awesome because you can burn OR attack. It's great to draw him opening hand, since you can't attack anyway, and summon him and inflict 500. Also there are many times where you either cannot attack (Swords in play, Reaper/Marshmallon blocking, afraid of Mirror Force/Dimension Wall, etc) or don't want to. It's also a killer move to use his effect, then tribute for Thestalos or Caius to get two effects in a row.

Anyone running a Volcanic deck check out Slicer. He's very good and you might be surprised at how much you like him. Run at least one of him, minimum.

Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, select 4 Pyro-Type Monsters in your Graveyard. Return those cards to the deck, then draw 2 cards.

This card, aside from Rocket, are the reason Volcanics are now playable. It used to be when you ran out of Shells and Scattershots, you were done for (unless you ran Pot of Avarice or Volcanic Recharge, but let's face it, those cards are fairly inconsistent in this deck and sometimes it can be hard to fulfill the requirements).

Now everything has changed. Upon Summon, this card generates an automatic +2, since it fills a monster slot and replaces itself with 2 more cards. Oftentimes the cards you refill are ones that you desperately need, such as Volcanic Shells, or just recycling another RFG already in your grave to make it an endless cycle. It's a great strategy to use Scattershot's effect, sending 3 of them to the grave to destroy all opponent's monsters, inflicting 1000 damage, then Summoning Firestorm Guards to refill what you just spent. And with 1700 hundred attack, it can still pack quite a punch.

Even if you lack 4 Pyros in the grave (which is really easy to get 4 in there), at least you can use him as a beater, whereas with Pot of Avarice you would be stuck with it in your hand. I would run 2x of these guys. Three is overkill and 2 is perfect to recycle the other RFG in your grave when it hits there.

(Shiki: Well, I run 3 in my Volcanic deck because there aren't really any other fillers but I do get too many of him at times. I may have to start running 2.)

Effect: When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by battle, you can place 1 "Volcanic" monster in your Deck on top of your Deck.

Although it is nice to search for any Volcanic monster, it hurts that it has to be placed on top of your deck instead of adding it to your hand. I would not play this in any Volcanic deck, since there are better cards to use here.

The ammunition- These are the monsters that make it happen. They fuel Blaze Accelerator plus create tool-box type effects after they hit the graveyard. They all have under 500 atk, which is the requirement for Blaze Accelerator's effect. But what they lack in atk, they make up for with stellar effects.

Volcanic ShellAttrib: FireType: Pyro/EffectLevel: 1Atk: 100Def: 0

Effect: Once per turn, while this card is in the Graveyard, you can pay 500 Life Points to add 1 "Volcanic Shell" from your Deck to your hand.

This card is amazing. It helps cycle your deck and creates constant hand-advantage. This is the main weapon of choice for Volcanic decks. Discard to destroy a monster, then you can search your deck for another one. This works great against practically every deck, and adds the looming fear of destruction over your opponent's head. They will be hesitant to summon or set a lot of monsters with ammo like this exploding on their monsters every turn. You need to run 3x of these.

Effect: When this card is sent to the Graveyard, inflict 500 damage to your opponent. If this card is sent to the Graveyard by the effect of a "Blaze Accelerator" card, you can send 2 "Volcanic Scattershots" from your hand / Deck to the Graveyard to destroy all monsters your opponent controls.

Many people who just run Volcanic Monarchs, which have the minimum amount of Volcanic monsters in there, typically don't run these, but I consider these a staple for all Volcanic decks. This guy destroys ALL your opponent's monsters and inflicts 500 damage for each one sent to the grave (with the exception of the one you sent with Blaze Accelerator's effect). So that's a Raigeki with 1000 burn damage! Pretty sweet.

Another cool thing about this card is that its effect is mandatory and happens when it's "sent" to the graveyard in ANY way. This includes milling, discarding for a cost, Dying in battle, being tributed for Thestalos, and so on. So you literally could tribute this for Caius, remove a dark monster for 1000 damage, and do an additional 500 for Scattershot's effect. If you run Scattershot, you have to run 3x of them.

Effect: When you take Battle Damage while this card is in your Graveyard, remove it from play. Then, if there is a FIRE monster other than "Volcanic Counter" in your Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the amount of Battle Damage you took.

This card has OTK written all over it. Though it's not right for every Volcanic deck, it fits perfectly into some of the more burn-oriented decks. The effect is mandatory (which can suck if your opponent attacks with something small like a Treeborn Frog or Reaper) but if you get attacked by a monarch or something big-sized, it can hurt your opponent a lot, since you will be running burn cards anyway like Magic Cylinder and Fire Art.

As long as you have 1 Fire monster other than this in your grave, I guarantee your opponent will be reluctant to attack you, giving you time to amass your Volcanic Army.

A great trick with this card is to run Burial from a Different Dimension with it. That way your opponent will attack with something small, remove all copies of Counter, then when they go to attack with something big, surprise them by returning all 3x copies back to the grave. This usually ends the game right there, plus you can discard it for Blaze fuel. Not for everyone, but definitely worth a look.

(Shiki: Agreed with that sir. That ends with game. Anyhow you look at it. Especially if you look get it during late game. Sadly, I wonder why I didn't run it?)

Volcanic RatAttrib: FireType: Pyro/EffectLevel: 1Atk: 500Def: 500

Effect: None. Vanilla monster.

Flavor text: This untamed mouse dwells in the cave of active volcanoes. No amount of heat is too much for it to bear.

This was the obligatory normal monster that every theme gets. Six Samurai got Chamberland, Gladiator Beasts got Andal, and Volcanics get this. This should never be used in any Volcanic deck ever, unless you intend on running normal monsters like Blazing Inpachi or something weird like that. It is used for Blaze fuel, but nothing else big.

The Bosses - These are the "Powerhouses" of the deck. The ones that end games or heavily swing them in your favor. They have anywhere from 2400-3000 attack, and can at times be tricky to summon or play around.

Effect: Once per turn, you can inflict damage to your opponent equal to the number of "Volcanic" monsters in your Graveyard × 200. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.

Usually if I tribute for a monster, I want to do some damage. And that usually means attacking. Otherwise I would stick with Slicer or Rocket. While the burn damage is nice, you would need 10-12 Volcanic monsters in your grave to justify not attacking. If it was x300 per turn, that would be a different story. In my opinion he is just not worth it.

(Shiki: Well I like it. You can also use his effect and tribute him. You can also abuse him with "The Thing in the Crater" and special summon him.)

Volcanic QueenAttrib: FireType: Pyro/EffectLevel: 6Atk: 2500Def: 1200

Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned from your hand to your opponent’s side of the field by Tributing 1 monster your opponent controls. If you Special Summon this card, you cannot Normal Summon or Set this turn. Once per turn, you can send 1 other card you control to the Graveyard to inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. During your End Phase, either Tribute 1 other monster or take 1000 damage.

This is the odd duck in the family of geese. It doesn't really mesh too well with the other Volcanics, however, it does do a nice bit of burn damage and forces your opponent to shrink his field size down to avoid being burned. Not for the average Volcanic deck, but I would definitely side 2-3, as it is a great way to get rid of troubling monsters like Herkalinos, Gyzarus, Light and Darkness Dragon, Prime Material Dragon, and so on, without destroying them or being negated (which is a perfect counter to Gladiator Beast Chariot).

(Shiki: This card is epic. Too bad you can't use it unless you use owner's seal. Bleh. It gets rid of all those pesky insects like Stardust and such.)

Effect:This card cannot be Normal Sumoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by sending a face-up "Tri-Blaze Accelerator" you control to the Graveyard. During your opponent's Battle Phase, your opponent must attack this monster with any Attack Position monsters they control. When this card destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard, destroy all other monsters your opponent controls and inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed by this effect.

The biggest boss of all Volcanics. Too bad he isn't as playable without Call of the Haunted available. He has an awesome burn and field-clearing effect, but the trouble is in bringing him out. You have to send a Tri-Blaze Accelerator from the field to the Graveyard, which is conditional since Tri-Blaze must send Blaze Accelerator to the grave in order for it to be on the field, and your opponent can always wait for you to play Tri-Blaze, then nuke it with MST. If you run this guy, make sure to build a deck around him with Trade-Ins and such. Otherwise, leave him alone, sadly.

(Shiki: Yeah. Run at least 1 unless you do want to run the Trade-in, engine. I haven't used him in a long time but now with all these special swarming mobs, yeah.)

Effect:When this card is Tribute Summoned successfully, randomly discard a card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard. If the discarded card was a Monster Card, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the Level of the monster × 100 points.

This guy is one of the reasons why Volcanic Monarchs are so good. He's already a Pyro, deals a bit of potential burn damage, and can be recycled by Firestorm Guards. It's only fitting he be in the Volcanic deck, since it's all about control and advantage. Plus, Royal Firestorm Guards are the bodyguards to Thestalos, and they need something to protect, right? I would run 3x Thestalos in here, because he is so good in this deck.

(Shiki: Yeah. All about control. Main-decking 3 does seem...meh. Especially since their recyce-able.)

Spells

These are the main Spell cards of the Volcanics, and others you should be using.

Blaze Accelerator- This is a no-brainer. Blaze Accelerator is the weapon to destroy your opponent's monsters, is searchable with Rocket, and combos well with Wild Fire.

Even though most Volcanic Monarch decks only run one copy, I find this to be foolish, because if it is removed from play in any way such as Caius, Macro Cosmos, or D.D. Crow, you are most times screwed. That is why I always run 2 of them, that way I can always search my deck for another copy to either play or use as discard fodder (Phoenix Wing, Lightning Vortex, etc). Two seems to be the magic number in Volcanics for some reason.

Wild Fire- If you are running Blaze Accelerator, you must run 2x of these. It's a chainable Dark Hole that wipes the field and gives you a tributable token with 1000 atk.... yes please! It's the perfect setup to activate this during your opponent's end phase, then during your turn tribute the token for Thestalos or Caius.

Tri-Blaze Accelerator- It is really nice to discard Shells and burn for 500 each time, but it also requires a lot of commitment to get it out, and Volcanics like to control RIGHT AWAY. If you run it, try to focus your deck around protecting it and getting it out (Dark Bribes, Magic Drain), and also run Doomfire. Otherwise stay away from this card.

Scapegoat- Scapegoat is a perfect opening play. It stalls for time while you set up your Blaze pieces, plus helps defend from troubling monsters.

Swords of Revealing Light- Another excellent card to use in this deck. It protects you from attack for 3 turns while you build up answers to tough situations. Also, a lot of people would rather let Swords expire on its own than destroy it outright. So a lot of times it will be there the full 3 turns, which is usually just enough time.

Lightning Vortex- I run this mainly because of the hand advantage I get with Volcanic Shells. It's an easy way to destroy all your opponent's monsters, again. This deck has so many ways to destroy everything it's not even funny. I usually just run 1x copy, but 2x would also be fine.

Brain Control- Most decks should be running this anyway, but it's good here because of all the tributes you might have. Run it.

Hand Destruction- In some variations I run this, but not in all. It really depends on your build. It is great to dump, say, Blaze Accelerator and a Shell, and draw into a Rocket and a Mirror Force or something. If you run it, run it in 3x since Volcanics don't have much draw power aside from RFG.

(Shiki: And Creature Swap as well as a sided Supremacy Berry. Creature swap makes this deck even broken as well.)

Traps

Actually, Volcanics are unique in that they don't necessarily need that many traps to defend themselves with, since they have 2x Wild Fire, Swords, and Scapegoat. But the traps they do have help out so much, I have to mention them.

Phoenix Wing Wind Blast- Chainable to removal, you can discard an unneeded Shell or Blaze practically for free to send their monster or s/t to the top of their deck. Just another example of the control Volcanics have. You can run anywhere from 0-3, depending on your type of deck.

Magic Cylinder- This is perfect for Volcanics. It protects them and deals direct damage to the opponent. Not much more to say. Run it if you aren't too afraid of removal, otherwise side it.

Spiritual Fire Art- Kurenai- This card doesn't see a lot of play, but at 1x it's fine in this deck if you choose to put it in. Chainable burn damage is amazing, especially if you are tributing a Thestalos that already attacked. Ends games quickly.

(Shiki: Dion! Remember that Tag? This is why this card is epic. Lol.)

Reckless Greed- Remember how I said that you can pretty much rest for 2-4 turns at times while only playing 1 or 2 cards? Well, that's great if you are running this card, since the key is to get to your Blaze key pieces as quick as you can before coasting for a few turns. Combos well with the deck style, and adds much needed drawing. I would run 3x of these.

Threatening Roar- The more the formats evolve, the more I see this card as a necessity. Protects you for a turn against any OTK like DAD, Six Samurai, Zombies, anything that swarms, and protects against the All-Mighty Gladiator Beasts until you lay down a Blaze Accelerator next turn. I would run 3x of these.

(Shiki: Now when I think about it, I should run 3x of these now.)

Other Misc. cards to consider

Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter- This card performs the 3 D's: Defends, Destroys, and Dumps vital key pieces to the blaze trilogy to the grave to fetch out later (shell, blaze, other pyros) with Rocket or Firestorm Guards. Great card. Even greater to surprise side in, since your opponents will probably side in Pulling the Rugs and Bottomless, and you can destroy them with this guy. I personally run 3x of these.

Necro Gardna- If you are already milling with Ryko or discarding with Phoenix Wing or Vortex, give this guy a try. A good way to save your Volcanics for a turn to do more burn damage or tribute for something bigger.

Trap Dustshoot- Like I said, Volcanics are all about control, so knowing what your opponent's hand is and sending their most vital card back to the deck is amazing.

(Shiki: Control, all about control.)

Monarchs- You don't need to run them, but they work well together. I would run no more than 5 or 6 though, including the 3 automatic-in Thestalos. I would suggest 2-3 Caius since it burns and removes, or Raiza since it bounces.

Snipe Hunter- I don't always include him, but in some versions I do since Volcanic Shell makes his discards hurt your opponent a lot more.

There are many different variations of the Volcanic deck. Personally I use a more pure version with hybrid cards added in, but feel free to try any kind that appeals to you (such as Counter otk, Volcanic Monarch, Volcanic Gadgets, etc). I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope you see how great and powerful Volcanics can really be!

If you have any constructive comments or other good comments, please feel free to add them! I may have forgotten a card or two, so don't be shy to help me out. I might be posting examples of a few variations of the Volcanic decks tomorrow or in a few days, so stay tuned!

Strong Against- The decks that this deck should be able to beat pretty easily without siding most times.

- Any deck that runs 3x Solemns (You would think it would hurt, but halving their LP makes it easier for me to use Fire Art or Cylinder for game)- Monarchs (very strong against)- DAD- Lightsworn (I can actually make them deck-out if I want!)- Warrior Toolbox- Gravekeepers (Massive amounts of field-clearing kills them, plus Rocket and Shell's graveyard effect don't target)

Stalemate Against- The decks that they usually are dead even with, where if you side against it, you will wipe the floor with them.

- Zombies (siding in D.D. Crows usually stops them)

- Macro Cosmos/RFG (although in my version I main-deck 3x Ryko, so it's not so much of a problem for me... just side in 3x Dust Tornado and 2x Twister)

- Gadgets (They do have the Solemn Judgments and Dark Bribes to deal with, but once you side in Dust Tornado and Ryko they are done for)

- Counter Fairies (Extremely annoying to play against, mainly because they are also so control-oriented. It helps to go first against these guys, otherwise side in 3x Dust Tornado and 3x Volcanic Queens to get rid of Bountiful Artemis)

Weak Against- The decks that they are naturally weak against. Heavy siding usually helps you break even with these decks, so that it's anyone's game.

- Six Samurai (Believe it or not, I have a lot of trouble sometimes with this decktype, mainly because of Grandmaster and the constant swarming. At least with Zombies they focus on the Graveyard, so D.D. Crows stop them dead in their tracks, but SS focus on special summoning from the deck or the hand so it's difficult to control. Main-decked or side decked Threatening Roars, Bottomless, Phoenix Wing, Volcanic Queen, and Lava Golem help out immensely against these guys, though. I love using Lava Golem since they special summon like 2 monsters a turn, plus it tributes the samurai instead of "destroying" them, so you don't have to worry about Grandmaster bouncing.)

(Shiki: I'm not too sure about this. Grandmaster is pretty much the only problem really. Other than that, yeah.)

-Gladiator Beasts (The main problem is in dealing with a Herklinos once it's out if you haven't got Blaze on the field yet. Also Cold Wave hurts if you don't have Threatening Roar or Scapegoat set. Having Threatening, Ryko, and Necro Gardna really add to the usefulness of the Volcanics, though. Also, siding in Volcanic Queen/Lava Golem helps out A LOT since it's the only thing that can get around Herklinos and the upcoming Gladiator Beast Chariot.

(Shiki: People still play Glads? Lol. Add Spirit Fire to just kill them.)

With this deck remember that the sooner you have Blaze on the field, the better off you are, since usually once you stop an attempted Gladiator swarm (Test tiger into Gyzarus), with Wild Fire or Torrential or something like that, they are usually weakened and have to end their turn. Magic Cylinder can sometimes help since it negates the attack, but it all depends if they activate Cold Wave. But since 80% of all winning decks seem to be Gladiator Beast or OTK-related, I would definitely Main-deck the Threatening Roars.

Well then, that's all folks.

Additional Comments:

Volcanic Scattershot - Is dead draws at times but the thing about it is, is that when it uses it's effect, it doesn't target monsters on the field like Blaze does so if someone has out Horus and another monster. You can't target Horus with Blaze but can use it on the other monster with scattershot to destroy all monsters on the field.

Flamveil Baby - Very good card that can be used in Volcanics. It gives the Volcanics a permanent 400 atk boost as well as fill the graveyard for Royal Firestorm Guards. (Pretty much you'll have 2000atk monsters when you summon them.

Flamveil Archer - Yeah....level 3 tuner. Pretty much won't see much use of it unless you want level 4-7 synchros.

Double Spell + Magic Drain - Quite simple isn't it. I believe I used this combo in a tag duel once with Zeke, I think. I stole his Swords of Revealing Lights.

Charcoal Impachi - Level 1 monster, 2100 defense? Hax? Yeah. This card is pretty much a wall. Lol. Sadly, I haven't used it in a while.

Last edited by Shiki on Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:06 am; edited 1 time in total

They also have Queen to summon. Royal Oppression is good but it stops pretty much when your LP reaches a certain amount. If you do tend to run it, you'll need to find ways of regaining back LP either with Supremacy Berry/Magical Android/etc. Why use Decree? You'll be needing your traps too so Trap Stun is a better choice.